Iraqi police on Wednesday night abducted around 60 journalists in the city of Najaf, after bursting into the hotel where they have been covering the battle in the city for the Imam Ali shrine, and dragging them off at gunpoint.
The police moved into the lobby of the Sea of Najaf hotel at 9.15pm on Wednesday night. As they fired shots into the air, they ordered all journalists to leave immediately.
Journalists from Arab and other international media, including the entire BBC team, as well as The Guardian, the Independent, Times and Daily Telegraph, were pushed into a truck, which was driven off to Najaf’s police station where the local chief of police, Ghalib al-Jazae’ri, said he was incensed by media reports in which Grand Ayatollah Sistani had allegedly urged his followers to descend on Najaf. He added: ”You are not under arrest but you will listen to us to see what disasters you have caused.”
The police chief, whose father has been kidnapped by supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, said the police base had been repeatedly mortared and many of his officers killed. After half an hour, he allowed journalists to leave.
In Baghdad, the prime minister, Ayad Allawi, had heard of the incident and was said to be considering a response.
An officer who had earlier snatched a phone from The Guardian, then drove them back to the hotel in the bus.
The police officer who burst into The Guardian‘s room, wearing a balaclava and pointing a Kalashnikov, said in Arabic: ‘We’re going to fuck the lot of you.” – Guardian Unlimited Â